Mechanical properties of polymer added with Biochar

Different carbon-based materials are used to tailor the properties of composites. However, there is a trend to replace the expensive carbon fillers with a cheap alternative that is not only abundant in nature but can also be produced comparatively faster than the ones that has maximum share in today’s market. Now the scientists also made resins that are biodegradable, so when both the resins and fillers are biodegradable this not only address the issue of cost but also that of recycling as well. The increase in environmental consciousness, energy crisis, and strict environmental regulations are shifting the focus towards cheap and sustainable composites. In this study the resin we use is not readily biodegradable, however, the reinforcement material is a green material. By and large the studies have found that the fillers in conjunction with resins has improved mechanical properties, since there are numerous types of feedstocks for the fillers and various pyrolysis technologies and conditions, the properties of biochar vary widely, which in turn alter the properties of the end product, therefore there is a lot of work needed to be done in this area. This study will be supportive for the future work in this area as it is considering a vast range of olive biochar and weight percentage of fillers. The aim of this study is to investigate different mechanical properties (such as ultimate tensile strength, young’s modulus and toughness) of polymers added with olive biochar. It discusses how the properties of end samples depend on the conditions at which biochar is obtained as well as on the weight percentage of the filler. The biochar was produced by the thermal decomposition of the olive feedstock in a closed heated chamber under the supply of nitrogen gas, at different temperature ranges i.e. 400 ℃, 600 ℃, 800 ℃, and 1000 ℃ and each set at different heating rates i.e. 5 ℃/min, 15 ℃/min, and 50 ℃/min. Different batches of samples were prepared from the aforementioned set with different weight percentage of fillers (0.5 wt.%, 1 wt.%, and 2 wt.%). The study includes a discussion on the epoxy resin and its type, it also discusses the preliminary characterization of olive and preparation of biochar. The morphology of biochar obtained is also studied with the aid of FESEM. The study of biochar through FESEM gives an insight to observe the surface structure and minerals distribution of biochar. The surface morphology changes greatly from 400℃ to 1000℃. Raman Spectroscopy-a nondestructive spectroscopic technique is used to detect the chemical composition of biochar. Last but not the least, there is a discussion on each mechanical property in each batch, and the arguments are supported by the graphs of the testing results obtained via Q-Test-10 Mechanical teste.